A New Regime
by Jewely
Summary: In a world where Harry didn't survive and there is little hope left, who will step forward to defy the Dark Lord.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: I know that I've just been the worst author when it comes to 'heirs' but I just can't think of where to go with it next. I've been working on this one for a while in a non HP sense but then I thought this would be really cool in Harry Potter form so it's really AU and a lot of things (almost all of it) will be completely different. Please tell me what you think. I really hope that working on this will help with my writers block on 'heirs'.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter character they all belong to J.K Rowling. Alli and Hayden are mine though.

_"I've never asked you to join my side."_

_"And I've never asked you to join mine."_

_"I wish it wasn't this complicated. I wish there was no war, no sides…no barriers."_

_"Even if there wasn't a war there would still be barriers, Alli. I'd still think what I think and you'd still think what you think. We'd still have our beliefs. We still couldn't be together."_

_"I wish we were born in a different time…when there weren't problems like this. A time where it wouldn't matter that we disagreed on this."_

_"I know."_

_**There are many different types of love on this Earth: friendship, familial, respectful, but there is one kind of love that can overcome any barrier that gets in it's way…true love. There is nothing that can stop true love…as long as we are willing to fight for it.**_

In a plain little church in a small town outside of Glasgow, Scotland a girl prayed. She prayed for a time where she could be happy. For a time when there was no war, no pain, no death and everyone could live freely. That prayer was all that she had left now, there was no one left in the small town that she had grown up in. In fact the only building that was left standing was the one she was currently in. A simple little chapel that was built by the muggles in the area a century ago for their worship. Her family's home had been destroyed not two hours ago by the devil himself, at least she thought he was the devil, Voldemort. The very thought of his gleeful face as he killed her family made her face turn from one of utter despair to one of resolve…he would pay…and by her hand.

She quietly sat staring up at the ceiling until she heard the small popping that came with multiple apparitions. The Order had come….however, they were a little late for her liking.

"Don't move!" someone yelled at her as they burst unceremoniously into the church. The girl didn't move, but not because she had been ordered to. She didn't think she could move if Voldemort himself realized that he had left one inhabitant of the village alive and came back for her personally. She was broken. Damaged. And everything hurt.

Suddenly the very worn face of Albus Dumbledore came into her view. The tired looking man knelt down in front of her and put a comforting hand on her scraped up knee.

"I am sorry child, there were many attacks tonight. We only just heard about yours." The girl just nodded in understanding. You can't just expect the Order or the ministry to just come to your rescue, especially if there are other people in need. Everyone was hurting. She could not be selfish, not now.

"Are you the only survivor?" Again, a nod was all the response that he got. Alli Sullivan was numb. She didn't notice Albus guiding her over to a brown haired young man while he searched the ruins of what used to be her village. She stared blankly ahead as the man with brown hair led her out of the church and to a woman with tear stains on her cheeks. She didn't even notice as the man put her hand on a piece of parchment and she was port-keyed away to some unknown place.

When Alli awoke she was in an unfamiliar room. However, she was not alarmed by this once she remembered the events last night.

'my family is dead, my home is destroyed, and everything that I loved is gone.'

The room itself was actually quite welcoming, a small space with wooden floors and dark burgundy drapery that could only have been put up by a Gryfindor. As she slid her bare feet on to the floor the grain of the cold wood felt good under her feet. She looked down as she felt the tiny pricklings of pain when she stood and saw a multitude of small scratches decorating her pale feet. A reminder of the night she had had. Running through the debris bare foot and searching for anyone that might have survived. Walking on the remnants of the windows that once lined the church where she sought refuge…it was all to much for her at the moment. The rush of memories caused her to collapse onto the bed and weep for much of the morning.

Eventually she had fallen to the floor and the thump had resulted in Remus Lupin, the owner of the house, to impose on her solitude if only to make sure she was still alive. When the man saw her curled up on the floor with her back against the bed weeping he slowly walked over and sank down next to her. The two spent the next hour just sitting there, leaning on one another.

"Do you feel better?" he asked once her shoulders ceased their shaking. If he was expecting an answer he did not show his disappointment when she sadly shook her head 'no'. But, Remus being a patient man gently helped her up and led her down the stairs to get something to eat.

Later that day when Alli still wasn't talking Remus became a bit disheartened and left her alone to sort through the multitude of thoughts that were undoubtedly going through her head. She had always been a quiet girl, but her silence was unnerving, as Albus said when he came to the small cottage in the afternoon to meet with Remus. And, as much as she hated herself for it, Alli listened in on their conversation from the living room.

"When will you be questioning him?" asked Remus in a pained voice.

"Tonight."

"Can I be there? I need to get out of here and while this was a temporary solution for Alli last night, she can't stay here. She needs to go to headquarters"

"I agree Alli needs to be at the school, but I worry about you being at the questioning Remus…what if you don't like the answers?"

"I need to be there. I need to see if he is the one responsible for the death of my friends."

"Alright." Even without seeing him Alli knew that the headmaster had his elbow on the table and his eyes covered by his worn fingers. It was a position she had seen him in many a time when the attacks had taken their toll on him. However, she had a feeling that the attack on Remus' friends was a particularly hard one for him.

As the men continued to speak Alli searched her memory for the people that she had seen Remus in close contact with. While they were not friends in school, they had an amiable relationship with in the Order and she had worked with a few of his friends before. She particularly hoped that it was not the very nice red headed woman that she had worked with a few months prior that had been attacked.

Alli was pulled from her thoughts when the headmaster, in all his omnipotence spoke to her through the door.

"Alli my dear, if you'd like to know what is going on you might as well come into the kitchen." When she walked through the door she had a slight blush to her cheeks and an apologetic look on her face.

"Don't worry child, you are welcome to listen in….you are in the Order after all."

The conversation continued on the subject of the other attacks that had occurred the previous night. Apparently Voldemort was becoming more bold. He openly attacked several key families that night and sent a message to the world…he was in control.

"What are we going to do, Albus? They're all dead and Sirius could very well have muttered the curse!"

"Sirius Black?" the first words Allie had said all day were intoned with surprise and concern.

"Yes, he was James and Lily's secret keeper, or so we thought, he's now claiming that it was someone else." Replied Albus.

"James and Lily Potter? They were attacked?" asked the girl quietly.

When Alli arrived at the Order headquarters she felt an immediate sense of relief come over her. She was home. At least the only place still standing that she could call home. The grounds were beautiful this time of year, the leaves of the forest were an array of oranges, browns, and yellows, and although she had just been through an ordeal she felt truly comforted for the first time all day (no offense to Remus but he was going through his own grief right now and wasn't equipped to handle hers as well).

The three cloaked figures approached the doors as quickly as possible, to everyone but the few who had seen her last night she was dead and it was beneficial to her and the Order that she retained that status. The possiblilities open for her were endless now, she was dead. She could move freely now that she had no legal identity and though the idea was quite frightening she had to admit it was a bit exciting as well.

Albus had called a meeting of only the highest ranking members of the Order and they were all currently within the safety of his office.

"I'm sure I don't need to go over the series of attacks that happened last night and I don't want to name all of the victims again…but we have recovered someone that was thought to be lost. This could be a great advantage for the Order and I must impress upon everyone in this room to swear an oath to keep this secret until their death." Albus had a rather grim look to him, but one could only expect this if they considered the situation. The Order had a spy and until one hour earlier when they had questioned Sirius Black under the influence of veritaserum they had not known who it was. It was very likely that there could be another within the ranks now, so it was understandable that Albus was being rather paranoid in evoking the practice of a wizards oath.

All present swore with their lives that they would never tell a soul what they had learned, and as Alli looked around the room she was grateful for her second chance. She had the potential to be very helpful to the Order and the cause. The faces of those around her told her that they understood that as well.

Remus was seated next to a rather worn looking man who she recognized as Sirius Black…actually she would not have recognized him had Remus not introduced them. She remembered him from school of course (who didn't know the Marauders?) but the man seated across from her was not the carefree boy she had seen. He looked like he had traveled through hell (considering all that happened she guessed he had), his eyes were sunken and surrounded by purple, and his once tidy hair looked like a black bird's nest.

The meeting was concluded quickly leaving Albus, Alli, Remus, Sirius and Minerva to discuss Alli's future.


	2. Her return

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.

"I can infiltrate Voldemort's ranks! I can gain his trust Albus…just let me!"

"You will do no such thing, he thinks you are dead. If he were to find out your true identity you would be killed in a slow and painful manner and I don't want to risk it. We have someone in there already your skills will be put to use in a much more productive way. You will gather information. You are invisible to the wizarding world and to Voldemort, you can move through the different dark circles undetected. You will NOT join the death eaters, you will spy on them…you will gather information…you will train to become a warrior for the light." Albus was right and she knew it. She would do as he asked and when the time came for the bastard to die…she would be the one to do it.

"Yes, headmaster. Just tell me what to do."

"You remember your old connections, Alli…use what knowledge you gained from your housemates in school and go. Do not tell me where you are…I don't want to know. Just keep yourself out of trouble and keep me informed. I will contact you with information regarding meetings of the inner circle of the Order, but the less contact I have with you the better. We don't want anyone to find out until it is absolutely necessary."

"Alright." At that point Alli began to go through the multitude of information that she had gained from the more irreputable of her school mates and phased out the conversation going on around her. It was just as well because it was a conversation about the betrayal of the Potter family and their imminent burials. Alli tuned back in when Sirius began to speak for the first time that evening.

"I couldn't find him, Albus. He wasn't there. There's no explanation for it…he just wasn't there."

"I don't know what happened to Harry, Sirius. I can only assume that Voldemort killed the child and destroyed his remains. The only way there would be no further risk to him, I'm sure he wanted to rule out any possible complications in the future."

"But why Harry? Why James and Lily? Why were they so important?" asked Remus in a pleading tone. His face was drawn and his eyes were wide with grief.

"There was a prophecy, about a child born as the seventh month died that could defeat Voldemort once and for all. That was why James and Lily went into hiding, Sirius."

That night Alli left Hogwarts, not to return for two years upon the death of Albus Dumbledore.

It was a slightly older and much more worn looking Allison Sullivan that passed through the decrepit gates of what used to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The iron that used to spike into beautiful patterns on the entranceway was now rusted and bent into an ugly mass of metal that Alli couldn't help but cringe as she passed by.

The Order had succeeded in beating Voldemort's forces off of the school, but at a high price. The death of most of the Order and it's leader. The Hallways were full of debris, walls were destroyed and most of the paintings were torn and empty. As Alli passed through the corridors her feet echoed on the stone floor, and more than once she had to change her path because some passage was blocked by the remainders of war.

When she finally reached the headmasters office it was to a somber scene. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were seated by the fire and looked battle worn. Their clothes were tattered and they had a multitude of cuts and gashes across their skin. Minerva was seated in the headmaster's old chair and simply stared out the window not even looking up when Alli entered the room.

"Is this all that is left of the Order?" Alli asked softly. She wished that she had been here…been able to help in some way. She had received Albus's request for her and had come as quickly as she could, but China is a long way to travel. She had not arrived in time to save her old mentor.

Minerva snapped out of her stupor and looked at Alli with grateful eyes, it would be good to have her back within the folds of the Order. She had missed the girl and her warrior spirit.

"No, we're all that remain at the school now. There are others that survived, they've all gone to our new headquarters. We were simply gathering what little there was left." She replied, looking sadder with every word.

"Will you be staying this time, Alli?" asked Remus quietly. She had come into contact with him a few times over the years she had been away and their friendship had grown. She had missed him.

"Yes. I think I'm needed more here at home now."

"That is good news, I must tell you Allison." Said Minerva in a grateful tone as she cracked the first smile Alli had seen all day. "We will be needing your skills to train the newer members, Remus tells me you've acquired quite the reputation in China."

"I'm sure he was over exaggerating, but I did manage to gain a small groups alliance in the war. They aren't very big but they are powerful wizards, should we ever call on them they will be useful."

"We need to get out of here, before Voldemort finally finds a way to break Albus's wards and takes over the school." Said Sirius as he spoke for the first time since Alli's arrival. He slowly and carefully rose from his chair and grimaced as he put weight on his right leg. "We need to head out to the grounds. The floo is surely being monitored."

The group of four emerged from the ruins of what used to be the greatest school of magic in the world with looks of remorse. This had been a home for each of them at some point and it was very difficult to leave it with the intention never to return. Even if they did win the war and got the school back, it would never be as it was. It was somehow tainted now…darker. The towers, instead of inspiring awe as they once did now looked menacing under the gathering storm clouds and all four hurried away from their crumbled past.

"Where are we going, Minerva?" asked Alli as they walked through the deserted streets of Hogsmeade.

"We're going to the Three Broomsticks to floo to Diagon Alley and from there a member of the Order will be waiting with a port key for us." She replied as they entered the pub.

There were very few patrons currently in the once bustling pub and Alli couldn't help but think back on her school years when they would come in here and cause mischief. She remembered the Marauders pulling pranks on the Slytherins and Miss Rosmerta who waited tables there. The sight of it now was tearing her apart and she wanted to leave the building as soon as possible.

The four cloaked figures approached the fire place and threw in the necessary powder to turn the flames green before flooing to Diagon Alley. Thankfully this was one place in the wizarding world that had not yet changed. It was as busy as ever, but there was a hint of depression in the air. The people were not chatting, simply walking quickly to their destinations in silence and this unnerved Alli more than anything she had seen in the Three Broomsticks.

They were not twenty feet into the alley before they were approached by a young man who looked to be about sixteen. The boy had red hair and a kind face that was covered in freckles. He mumbled something to Minerva that Alli did not hear but when he ushered them into a deserted back street she knew this was the man they were waiting for. He held out a piece of old parchment and soon everyone was pulled to the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

The five were greeted upon their arrival by only one person. A dark and imposing figure to most, but to Alli he was just the scrawny smart ass that she went to school with.

"Severus!" she yelled as she jumped upon him and enveloped him in hug. The thing that left everyone else's jaws dropping was that Severus Snape (bastard extraordinaire) actually smiled and hugged her back.

"Welcome back to the living Allison." He replied.


End file.
